When the Edmonton Oilers signed hulking 6-foot-6 defenceman Keith Aulie in free agency he was excited to get an opportunity to show he belongs in the NHL and that he can bounce back from some injury issues last season. For Aulie, it’s all about coming in and making a positive impact on an already young and talented roster.

“It’s a young group that desperately wants to win,” Aulie said. “Just from playing against them in the past, they’re hard working. It’s going to be exciting. It’s an exciting team. I think there’s a lot of work to be done. Obviously, there’s nowhere to go but up. As young guys, myself and these other guys here with me, we just want to come in and make a positive impact and just help this team out because it’s exciting to be part of a team that’s on an upswing. We understand how much pride this city has in the team and we just can’t wait to make a positive impact.”

Being the bigger, more physically imposing type of defenceman, Aulie feels like he can mesh with the current crop of blueliners on the Oilers roster.

“I’m a shutdown style defenceman. I play from my own end out and try to be aggressive, try to be physical, try to be hard on their forwards, play a safe and solid game and try to kill penalties. I think I compliment our other defencemen pretty well. They’ve laid it out to me what they expect of me and I can’t wait to get going.”